Black lines on white paper
by El loopy
Summary: In vol.1 Yukari meets George at the Library. We all know this wasn't a mistake but during that time spent in the library what was he actually thinking and how much reading did he actually get done?One shot


**Disclaimer: Don't own Paradise Kiss**

Black lines on White paper

George stepped into the cool interior of the library and calmly made his way through the shelves, breathing in the scent of old books and varnish. Everything was so quiet in here you could almost hear the fuzzy emptiness of the silence.

Finding the correct section in the confusing maze he ran a graceful finger over the titles, carefully selecting those that looked the most interesting.

Okay so he was here to…why was he here? His hand stilled on a spine and a small frown crossed his face. Well, he'd called her and she was here but then why had he called her? He shook his head to clear the thoughts and hoisted the books under one arm.

Okay, fine, he liked her and he wanted her to be the model. Maybe he hoped that by seeing her he'd help sway her decision.

A small smile crossed his face.

Or maybe he just liked toying with her.

George placed the pile of books down on the same table where Yukari sat staring hard at the text in front of her. Was she really concentrating? Something about the way her eyes were resting on the page made him think her mind wasn't really on her work. He slid gracefully into the seat opposite her, one hand stroking the polished surface of the table. Knowing her eyes were on him he glanced up and met her gaze with feigned surprise.

"Hmmm? Yukari. This is a coincidence."

She continued to stare at him silently, struck dumb by his presence.

"Oh. Are you studying?" he exclaimed in an apologetic tone, though he knew very well what she'd been doing. "Don't let me disturb you."

Except, of course, the whole point was to disturb her.

He bent his head down to the book on the table and flipped it open gently, listening to the hiss and crackle of pages falling. With deliberate smoothness he rested his chin in one hand, letting his elegant fingers rest lightly at the corners of his mouth. He didn't look at her. That'd ruin the game. So despite how his eyes yearned to gaze at her he kept them firmly on the book in front of him, though the text was suddenly hard to decipher. Could words mock you? Did they know when their observer wasn't really paying attention? Those dancing, squiggling words. They moved. They became more illegible as the reader's mind wandered. Mischievous things, words. Impossible too. How could black lines on a white background impart knowledge or conjure up an image? It didn't make sense. It was bizarre that individual characters when read in a certain order could make a person laugh, or cry, empathize, love, hate, feel frustrated or disgusted.

After reading the same sentence for the third time and feeling the words hit the saturated block that was his mind and bounce off he looked up. Yukari was staring at him in some sort of fascinated confusion.

"I'm sorry. I'm bothering you," he said quietly, as if appalled, though that, of course had been the reason he'd sat down there in the first place.

She gave a stuttered protestation but he pretended that he hadn't heard, smiling inwardly to himself as he scooped up his books and moved to the opposite side of the room. He enjoyed this game. It was fun. He liked the way he could make her respond to him, those little signs that she liked him, that she was attracted to him, fed his efforts. They kept the game going.

He folded himself up into the sleek hard chair and tucked one hand under his ear, fingers brushing through his blue hair. Everything was so…shiny here. It was strange. Like the place was never used.

Anyway…reading…yes…he bent his eyes to the book…only to glance at his watch a short time later.

How long…? Only ten minutes! How much had he read? George snorted with humour mixed with disgust. He'd read a page. A measly page…and he couldn't even remember what it'd said. So he must've been just thinking the whole time. This was useless. He didn't want to waste his entire day sitting around thinking; as long as he was here he might as well _attempt _to learn something useful.

George grabbed the book roughly and pushed it up to his nose, as if bringing it closer would help it to go in. He _would_ learn something today if it killed him.

----------

Barely one hour later, after much mind wandering and soul searching and very little actual reading, George irritably snapped the book shut and tossed it haphazardly onto the table. Urk…the place was suffocating. He had to get out. That smell was starting to give him a headache and those moving words weren't helping either, just making his eyes hurt. The sun pouring in through the window was enough to tempt anyone to just drop everything. Okay, so the girl had considerable grit and self-discipline to be able to just do this all day. All right. He gave up. He had to get out of that echoing empty room, void of speech and laughter. _This_ was the reason he'd never been to a Library before. He simply couldn't work in that sort of atmosphere.

George pushed himself to his feet, determined to get out…but he paused, eyes drawn to Yukari. To be honest he really didn't want to give up on her just yet. He admitted to himself that he was actually hoping that he could talk to her at some point, what else had been the point of sitting there in that cold empty room? With a sigh he twisted his head to the window. It was so beautiful out there. _That_ was the sort of place he could relax and study at the same time.

With a small smile George gathered his books together and slowly made his way throughout the fashion section, carefully putting each book back on the shelves and selecting a few French ones to take their place. He might not be able to read them but hadn't he already established that reading was something he wasn't able to concentrate on today. At least with these books he could scrutinise the pictures.

After checking the books out he strolled from the building and into the fresh air. Without any hesitation he made his way to the spot he had seen from the window he had been sat at. A tree with its spread branches providing ample and much welcome shade from the hot sun, beneath which was laid a carpet of soft grass. George eased himself down. An advantageous trade, he thought, he'd take the tree to a desk anyday.

He let the book fall open on his lap and glanced up at the window before looking back down at the images before him. If this played out the way he suspected it would then Yukari would be wandering over to the window at some point to see where he'd gone…and then she'd see him and, if he was right about her, she'd join him. A small smile played on his lips as his eyes swept the colourful designs.

He could hardly wait.


End file.
